Chapter 4 - WHAT HER FATHER LEFT
Midlands Heritage Bank confirmed the safe deposit box existed.
It was registered jointly to Cassandra and her late father.
No one had accessed it since six months before his death.
Margaret’s claim that it had been closed was false.
Cassandra arranged to open it with police present.
I did not expect to be there.
Cassandra asked me.
“Sophie heard the argument.”
“She is not coming.”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
“But you should.”
Inside the box were no jewels.
No cash.
No sentimental photographs.
Only documents.
The first was a sealed envelope addressed to Cassandra.
The second was a flash drive.
The third was the original family trust.
The final item was a handwritten note.
If Preston or Margaret tells you this box does not exist, assume everything else they tell you is also a lie.
Cassandra sat down.
Her father’s trust gave her fifty-one percent of voting control in Vale Hospitality.
Not fifty.
Not equal.
Fifty-one.
Preston received twenty-four.
Margaret held fifteen.
The remaining ten were placed in an employee foundation.
Cassandra stared at the pages.
“I own control.”
The bank attorney nodded.
“Yes.”
“But Preston has been voting my shares.”
“We need to review how.”
The flash drive answered that question.
It contained emails between Preston and Margaret.
They had created a false amendment after Cassandra’s father became ill.
The amendment redistributed her voting rights.
One email from Margaret said:
Cassandra does not have the temperament to run the company.
Another from Preston replied:
Then make sure she never sees the original.
Cassandra’s hands began trembling.
Ethan reached for her.
She pulled away.
Not because he had done anything.
Because she suddenly trusted no one.
Then we reached a folder labeled BENNETT.
My surname.
I froze.
Cassandra looked at me.
“Claire?”
“I don’t know.”
Inside were copies of old employment records belonging to my late husband, Michael Bennett.
Michael had worked for Vale Hospitality before Sophie was born.
He died when Sophie was three.
A heart condition.
At least that was what I knew.
He had served as an internal financial auditor.
The flash drive contained an email from him to Cassandra’s father.
Richard,
I found unauthorized transfers approved through Preston’s office.
The amounts are larger than we discussed.
I believe Margaret knows.
I have copied the files separately.
Do not confront them until we meet.
I stopped breathing.
Michael had never told me.
Another email was dated two days later.
Richard,
Someone entered my office last night.
The copies are gone.
I think they know.
Cassandra touched my arm.
“Claire.”
I barely heard her.
Then I found the final email.
It had never been sent.
It was saved as a draft.
May you like
If something happens to me, give Claire everything.
My husband had died eight months after writing it.
